


I believe in you, even when you don't.

by Rogue1987



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Friendship, Gen, Insecurity, No Slash, Post-Game(s), Self-Sacrifice, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 17:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2660915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue1987/pseuds/Rogue1987
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It isn't easy being Karim Benzema. In fact, it feels like the hardest job on the planet sometimes.<br/>But luckily he has amazing friends who will always pull him trough the hardships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I believe in you, even when you don't.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot about how Karim struggles with his every day life as a Real player.  
> With being booed off the pitch, with being unloved and how he deals with his personal life. 
> 
> It's non slash, so I won't ship him with anyone here besides his girlfriend Chloe, but his bond with Marcelo is the central red line trough this story.

Madrid, summer 2014.

 

 

Karim knows that he should feel like the lucky one.

He is playing for his childhood dream team, he has a lot of money, a nice house, a beautiful baby girl, a couple of good looking cars and a lot of amazing friends in his teammates.

He is living the dream.  
The only problem is that he isn't, well not always at least.

He knows that he is not one of the players that the fans will come for when they go to Real Madrid games, he's not the one who will bring fans from across the globe in the pure hope that they will see him.

No that glory will always belong _solely_ to Cristiano.  
Or sometimes to Gareth, or Sergio who is insanely handsome and attracts many female fans, and let's not forget about Iker.

Or Saint Iker, as they call him in the whole of Spain.  
They even love him in Barcelona and wished he would play there.

Sure Iker had been under a lot of pressure lately, thanks to a dramatic world cup, almost losing the Champions league final thanks to his mistake and the fans were conflicted about him, but Karim was sure that Iker would go back to his usual god-like status in a couple of months.

Karim knows that he will never be one of the greatests, one of the football giants like Messi, Cristiano, Pirlo, Zidane or Zlatan.  
He will always be an _average_ striker in the eyes of everybody, not that bad and better then some, but only average.

He will never win a Ballon d'Or, he will never get his name sung in the Bernabeu, and he will never break any records.  
The only thing he will ever get is whistles whenever he is offside again ( which does happen a lot, he has to admit that ), or getting booed if he doesn't deliver.

The Bernabeu crowd is one of the toughest ones in the world according to Karim.

They can love you without limits, but if they don't have faith in you it's not exactly a walk in the park to play there.

When they won La Decima, guys like Sergio became immortally engraved into the hearts of every Madridista alive, while Karim would only be remembered as the striker who failed to deliver when it was necessary.

If Sergio hadn't scored that goal Karim was sure that Iker would be out of a job right now, and that he would get a lot of shit for not scoring in the final.  
But Sergio _had_ saved them, and Iker's fate was rescued for a while.

Playing in the world cup last summer had been an amazing experience for Karim, and France did go to the quarter finals so he was proud of their achievement.  
He scored a couple important goals and the critics were pleased about him for once.

But there was tough news coming from Madrid when he came back home.  
Zidane would no longer be the assistant coach to the first team.

''But, you can't just leave us,'' Karim had blurted out, feeling almost too shocked to respond.  
His voice was thick and wobbly and he felt the tears stinging in his eyes.

''I'm not leaving you guys, I will still be around I promise,'' Zizou said, and he placed a hand on Karim's shoulder and squeezed it a bit.  
''But that's not the same,'' Karim mumbled, knowing how immature he sounded, but he didn't care.

Zidane had always been the one who had believed in him the most, well he _and_ Marcelo had.  
But he had been the one who could convince him to keep fighting for his place, to keep going.

And now he was losing that sense of security, that feeling of being respected and safe.  
He had been like a father to him, as Marcelo always felt like his little brother.

''Well I'll miss having someone around to speak French to, aside from Rafa of course,'' he added with a sad smile and Zizou hugged him tight.  
''I know, but I'm not worried about you Benz. You will make them love you, because you never stop trying, and you are a special guy and one day they will see it too,''

But the bad news didn't stop with him unfortunately.

A few weeks later when Karim was at Marcelo's house, Angel visited them with horrible news.

''What do you mean you're leaving?!'' Marcelo had screamed when he had broke the news, tears welling up in his eyes.  
Karim scooted in closer on Marcelo's white couch and wrapped his arm around his friend.

''I've got no choice guys, they bought James and...well it's complicated okay.  
So I'm going to United,'' Angel sighed, glancing to the kids to make sure everything was all right.

Mia and Enzo were playing with Melia who was lying in the play pen, chewing on Enzo's pinkie.

''I can't believe this shit, they spent fucking eighty million on a guy we don't even _need_ and send our most important player from last year to fucking England!'' Marcelo hissed, between his teeth.

''Please don't get upset,'' Karim pleaded with a cautious gaze at the kids but Marcelo was shaking with anger and swallowed hard and Karim could tell he was about to cry.

''No!!! This is not okay Benz!  
_This is fucked up!''_ he screamed and Karim made hushing sounds to try to calm him down.

''Sh the kids, you don't wanna upset them,'' he warned when he saw Enzo looking at them suspiciously.  
When Angel and Mia left the house Karim decided to stay with Melia.

He knew Marcelo needed to talk about this and he needed to rant about the policy of their team, that was the only way Marcelo could deal with things.

He needed to vent, needed to talk to someone until their ears bled and since Clarice was in Brazil for work he knew he needed to stick around.

When they had put the kids to bed, they sat down on Marcelo's porch in the comfy rocking chairs that Karim loved so much and had a drink.

Marcelo had turned quiet by now, and Karim was convinced it was because he had lost his tongue thanks to all that endless complaining and chattering about how fucked up everything was now.

He was not really sure why he put up with it, but then again: Marcelo had _always_ been his soft spot.  
His biggest weakness.

He was his little brother, and he loved him a lot.  
Hell everybody loved him.

The man could be sent to hell to convince Lucifer that he was a good person and succeed in that task.  
He could always brighten up everybody's most awful day, and there was something special about him.

Karim had known him for so many years now and had never, not even one day, not loved Marcelo.  
The man drew people toward him like moths to a flame.

The only thing Marcelo could not stand though, was losing the people that he loved.  
He was very sensitive to that and could be depressed about that for years.

So when Pipita left him last year, he had been broken up over it.  
Gonzalo had been one of his closest friends and Marcelo was still sulking over him sometimes.

Pepe, Cris and Karim really had to pull him trough that dark time because he was sadder then they had ever seen him.

Sadness and despair didn't suit Marcelo at all, he was a sun child, warm and cheerful and seeing him almost depressed broke Karim's heart.   
And now Angelito was leaving, causing another blow to Marcelo's heart.

Karim was not sure what he should be saying to Marcelo right now.  
Should he be cheering him up, or was it his job to also complain about how fucked up their team was without Angel?

 _''Marcelito?''_ he mused after a long silence, using his favorite nickname for his friend and Marcelo sighed deep and slid his chair against Karim's and placed his head on his shoulder.

Karim knew that Marcelo was a cuddly guy, he had always been like that and he also knew that he would be staying the night in one of Marcelo's quest bedrooms, only to be waken up by Marcelo in the middle of the night because he just couldn't sleep alone.

So he would come into his room, lie down on the covers and fall asleep next to Karim. Marcelo was weird like that and Karim knew that he had done that with Pipita and Pepe a couple times too and he didn't mind it as long as he didn't cuddle up to him.

Whenever Clarice was away, Marcelo needed to sleep with someone next to him, if there was nobody around then he would take Enzo and have him sleep in his bed. Marcelo just hated it to be alone, and the darkness of the night always scared him a bit and brought him nightmares. 

''I'm sorry dude, but I just can't deal with this right now.  
I feel like the ground is falling away at my feet you know,'' he whispered and Karim slid his arm around him agains and patted his friends curls.

''I know, I feel very sad too.  
I mean he has been such an important part of this team, always feeding us so many assists and now he's leaving,'' he said and he put his pinkie trough one of Marcelo's little curls.

''I'm scared too bro, I really am.  
But we will be okay, I promise. I'll get you trough this again,'' Karim pledged and Marcelo's started sobbing soft, wetting Karim's shoulder in the process.

''Promise me something...'' Marcelo hiccuped and Karim frowned.  
''What is it?''

 _''That you won't leave me too,''_ Marcelo panted, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.  
''Marc...''

''Just not right now okay, I know you can't promise me that you'll never leave, but I need you to promise me that you won't leave this summer.  
_I need you to stay, for me._ Because you're wrong you know.

You do matter and you are special and I hate how you always talk down on yourself, how you make yourself smaller so that others can be bigger. You need to stop believing that your role in this team is unimportant, because it is _vital_ for us okay. 

Thanks to your unselfishness, guys like Cris can flourish, you are a striker but you function as an excellent midfielder and we all love you for it.   
You _are_ important to this team Benz, and you are very important to _me._

So I need my big brother to stick around okay, can you do that for me?'' Marcelo begged, his brown eyes desperate and terrified.

Karim felt trapped, he didn't know what to say to him.  
To be honest: he was not sure if he wanted to stay in Madrid anymore.  
He was just so tired of _everything_.

Tired of having to fight for his spot all those years, tired of always being mocked, he was exhausted to be struggling with the crowd in the Bernabeu.  
He was just sick of all of it.

And deep in his heart he admitted that he agreed with the critics: _he was simply not good enough to play for Real_.

Karim was just like Pipita, he was _average_ and he needed to go, because average was not allowed in the Bernabeu. Mistakes were unacceptable and all he did was fucking up and running around being offside. 

After hearing the critiques so many times, he had started to believe it.  
Zidane was usually the one who talked to him about it and said that it was nonsense but the damage had already been done in Karim's head.

He had thought about leaving a lot of times, but he had never said it out loud or expressed to the team that he wanted to go.  
And sure he had had a good year, and gained some respect but the critics never seized and neither did the one in his own head.

And here was Marcelo, begging him to stick around for him, to keep fighting because he needed him around.  
It moved him more then he had expected, but he wasn't sure how to respond to his best friends wishes.

 _''I'm just tired Marc, I'm so damn tired._  
Of course I'm staying cause I haven't had any offers or whatever, but I'm so exhausted of being my own worst enemy.

Of fighting for respect all the time.

I just-I feel like I've suffered enough, and I'm not sure if I can do it anymore.  
It's like I can't care anymore, I should just tell the critics to go to hell or something but I can't.

I just need the confidence you know, I _need_ the crowd to believe in me,'' Karim confessed and Marcelo cocked is head up from Karim's shoulder and gazed him in his eyes.

''Why?'' he simply asked and Karim sighed.

''I don't know, I just do. I feel like without the crowd loving me, it's all worth nothing you know,''

''See there you're wrong. It isn't about _them_ loving you, or having faith in you, it is about _us_ trusting you dude.  
And we do trust you, and we all love you.

Cris wouldn't even have scored half of his goals last year if it hadn't been for your hard work and you goddamn know it.  
The same goes to Gareth and so many more of us.

We need you in our lives, and what the fans think of you should not matter.  
And I know how fickle they can be, I really do, but you can't give up Benz.

That is not like you, you're my little tiger.  
And I won't let you give up on yourself, because even if you don't believe in yourself anymore, that doesn't mean that I have to give up on you too.

I can't do that man, _you're my brother._  
And you are not quitting, I won't let you,'' Marcelo said with a stern face and he placed a kiss to Karim's forehead.

Karim burst out into tears and Marcelo embraced him tight.  
It was all the stress and pressure of last year, it was suddenly all being released by Marcelo's kind words and Karim could not help himself.

He usually seldom cried but he knew that it was safe to cry around Marcelo, seeing how he was a Brazilian who was always very open about his emotions.  
''Come on, let's get you inside,'' Marcelo said and he tugged Karim to his feet and dragged him back into his house and led him to the guest bedroom.

''Do you want some water?'' he offered when Karim had curled up on the bed, still sobbing with his face buried into the sheets.  
''Yeah,''

He heard Marcelo's footsteps disappearing into the bathroom and he came back with a glass of water that he put on the night stand, and he gently helped Karim sit up against the cupboard and handed it to him.

Karim drank all of it in one big sip and shot Marcelo a sad smile.  
''Thanks,''

''Sure, do you need anything else?'' Marcelo asked and Karim shot him a pondering gaze.  
''No just...stay with me a while?'' he asked cautiously and Marcelo smiled and sat down on the other side of the bed.

''Sure, whatever you need bro,''  
''Well you will sneak up in bed with me anyway so you might as well stay around,'' Karim said with a mean giggle in his voice.

Marcelo planted his elbow in his side and snickered.  
''Don't be cruel Benz, it doesn't suit you,''

''Yeah I know,'' Karim huffed, acting to be arrogant but failing miserably.  
''Good night Benz, try not to snore all right?'' Marcelo teased and Karim kicked him in his shins.

''Hey man?''  
''What?''

''You really have this much fate in me?'' he asked and Marcelo turned to his side and stared into Karim's eyes and cupped his cheek with his warm hand.  
_''Always,''_ he said solemnly.

''Love you dude,'' Karim said and he meant it, hell he always meant everything he said.  
He could never express to Marcelo how thankful he was that his best friend had always had faith in him, always believed in his abilities.

To Karim it meant everything, it was the thing that kept him going when he felt like he wanted to give up and retire from football.  
But Marcelo would never let him do that, he would be the one who would catch him when he fell down and the one who gently pushed him to keep going.

''Love ya too,'' Marcelo replied before turning the light off.  
They were asleep in minutes.

 

Almost three months later they were playing a game against Barca when it happened.  
Karim had given a great performance these last few months and had scored a lot of goals and given many assists, so the spirits were up.

The Bernabeu finally seemed to appreciate him a bit more lately and he felt his confidence growing rapidly.  
But still, playing against Barca was always nerve wrecking for him.

Last year he had scored twice, and things were looking good but then Sergio had gotten himself a red card and they had lost the game after all their efforts.

But he had the feeling that they were stronger than ever this year, specially after winning La Decima, Karim just knew that they could slay whatever dragons may come on their path.

His confidence was growing thanks to the positive responses he got from the fans after the game against Liverpool, where he scored twice, once with an amazing assist from Marcelo, who had assisted a lot of his goals lately.

He knew Marcelo was doing _everything_ in his power to make Karim look good, and to boosts his confidence so he fed him as many balls as he could find during games and it was paying off.

Karim had always known that there was an upside to being the underdog on the pitch.  
Not only the fans underestimated him, but the opposing team did as well.

Very often when they had corners, nobody covered Karim, while they guarded Sergio and Cris with two or three guys, leaving space for Karim to hit the ball into the net.  
Barca made the same stupid mistake.

Busquets didn't cover him, he only had eyes for Cristiano who handed Karim the assist and Mascherano was too late.  
So Karim buried the ball deep into the net, shouting and jumping into the arms of his teammates, earning the standing ovation from the Bernabeu in gratitude.

Marcelo and Luka were screaming in his ears, but he didn't register much of it, all he could think about was the howling of the crowd.  
They were shouting his name, _his name_.

Not Cristiano's, or Isco's who made the amazing run-making Iniesta look like an idiot in the process- no they were shouting his name.  
When Karim got subbed off, the crowd went nuts and he got a standing ovation and everybody yelled his name.

He felt his eyes tear up a bit and he smiled and clapped as he left the pitch, and he saw Marcelo smiling from the corner of his eye.  
When Luka got subbed after him he sat down next to him and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

''He says he's very proud of you, and that we are all going to his house later to celebrate,'' he explained and Karim didn't need to ask who he was talking about.  
''Thanks Lukita, you were brilliant again by the way,'' he said and to his delight Luka started blushing again.

He was almost as good with compliments as Karim was.  
''Oh uh Merci, I guess,'' he grinned and he patted Karim's knee.

When the referee blew the whistle the stadium exploded in a content roar and Karim saw Luka jumping on Carlo's back and he chuckled.  
Marcelo flew into his arms and held him tight.

''You did it dude, I told you that you could do it,'' he whispered and he kissed his cheek.

''Thanks to you I could, you gave me the strength to keep on going when I didn't want to continue.  
I owe it all to you bro, thank you for believing in me,'' Karim smiled and he ruffled his hand trough Marcelo's soft curls.

_''Always Benz, I will always believe in you,''_

Karim wondered what he had done to deserve friends like Marcelo.  
He felt so blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a note guys, I'm curious about your opinions.  
> And keep in mind that English is not my first language.


End file.
